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30.1.18

Newsletter for 30 January 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Next Roadside Demo -
Toormina Thursday February 8th 2:30pm

Next Market - Valla
Beach Sat 3rd February

More refugees sent to
the USA

Update on Manus
Island

Make use of our blog

Roadside
demonstration report

Just four of us
braved the hot sunshine last Thursday for the roadside demonstration in Coffs
Harbour. We gave our new banner its first outing and received a lot of support
from passing motorists, together with a number of negative gestures from
others. There clearly is still much work to do to win the hearts and minds of
many members of the public, but that’s what we are committed to doing, given
the terrible suffering inflicted on innocent men, women and children trapped in
indefinite offshore detention. Our next roadside demonstration will be on Thursday
8th February from 2.30 to 4.00 pm in Toormina. You will find
us at our usual venue on Hogbin Drive, just down the hill from the fire station
and opposite what used to be the Sawtell nursery. Now that the holiday period
is behind us, it would be great to have a good crowd of supporters to help us
get the message across about the government’s cruel asylum policy.

Our next market stall
will be this Saturday, 3rd February at Valla Beach. We are looking
for supporters to lend a hand between 9.00 am and 1.30 pm, so if you are
able to help out for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him
at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
We have a new open letter to Bill Shorten for people to sign and it would be
great if we could collect 100 signatures on Saturday. Our National RAR
president, Marie Sellstrom, will be joining us at the market, so please drop by
to say hello if you can. After the market, you would be most welcome to join us
for a light lunch at 39, Rogers Drive Valla Beach from 1.30 pm. Please
let Mike know in advance if you intend to join us for lunch. It will be a good
opportunity to relax and enjoy one another’s company.

Another group of
refugees flies to the US

In recent days 58
refugees were flown from Port Moresby for resettlement in the US. Another 130
refugees on Nauru have been accepted for resettlement and are expected to leave
for the US in the coming days. This will bring the total to 242 so far, though
it is more than a year since the Obama government agreed to take 1,250 refugees
from Manus and Nauru. No Somalis or Iranians are included in these latest
groups as they are banned by the Trump regime from travelling to the US.
According to Natasha Blucher from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, there are
still up to 2,000 people, including 150 children, in offshore detention, with
no prospect of freedom. She states: “The US cannot be the only solution here.
It is moving too slowly and people’s lives are being destroyed from the very
moment they are stuck in this crushing system. We work with a huge number of
people suffering from serious health issues, families who have been ripped
apart, and people – including children – who have been living in mouldy tents on
Nauru for over four years now.”

Some of you may have
read the heartbreaking story in The Saturday Paper by Imran Mohammad
about the latest situation on Manus, now that the detainees have been moved
into three different detention centres. It is a story of utterly cruel
abandonment by our government and is well worth reading. In spite of the
crushing hardship of life in limbo on a remote island, Imran tries to end on a
positive note: “It may seem like a dream, but if we all dream together we may
have a world in which everyone is born into security and freedom. It is my hope
that 2018 will be the year of healing, peace and safety, and may there be many
peaceful and happy years to follow for every citizen on this earth”. You can
read the article by clicking on our Facebook link at the bottom of this
newsletter.

Making use of our
blog

Please have a look at
our blog from time to time if you can, by clicking on the link at the end of
this newsletter. You will find a range of information, including letters that
have been published in the press or sent to politicians. You’ll also find
regular updates from Our National RAR committee, which are always informative.
If you write to politicians, or have a letter published in the press, then please
forward it to bellingen.rar@gmail.com so
that we can include in on the blog.